U.S. 1859 U.S.A. Harpers Ferry Raid
18th October, : John Brown's men arrived at Harper's Ferry in Virginia in order to instigate a slave rebellion. Brown's men were attacked by soldiers under Robert E. Lee on October 18th, 1859 after which Brown and several of his men were captured. He was hung for murder, treason against the State and for leading a revolt.

U.S. 1931 U.S.A. Edison
Oct. 18th, 1931 : American inventor Thomas Edison dies, amongst his thousands of inventions the most well known include the phonograph and the practical electric light bulb. He also originated the concept and implementation of electric-power generation with distribution to homes and businesses.

World 1952 World Population
Oct. 18th, 1952 : The worlds population currently stands at 47 people per square mile of land but it predicted that this may well double by the end of the century due to population growth ( Current figures 2007 are 115 people per square mile )

Puerto Rico 1898 Puerto Rico US Formal Possession
18th October, 1998 : The United States takes formal possession of Island of Puerto Rico when the American flag is raised over San Juan.

UK 1922 Great Britain British Broadcasting Company
Wednesday, Oct. 18th, 1922 : The British Broadcasting Company ( A commercial Company ) is formed with a share capital of £100,000 , the company is dissolved in 1926 and all assets are transferred to the British Broadcasting Corporation or the BBC as it is now known. In 1927 the BBC became a publicly funded corporation, which it still is today.

U.S. 1924 U.S.A. Election Funds
18th October, 1924 : The current election funds for the Democrats and Republican parties have been released for the upcoming national elections .
Democrats $750,000
Republican $3,000,000

Ethiopia 1935 Ethiopia Italy Bombs Ethiopia
Oct. 18th, 1935: Italian bombers have started bombing camps where Ethiopian women and children were thought to be safe while Ethiopian warriors attempt to fight using against the invading Italian army well equipped with artillery and aircraft. Italian planes have now started using poison gas as a weapon against the Ethiopian fighters and many believe the increased use will cause slaughter on a scale never before seen.

U.S. 1954 U.S.A. Transistor Radio
Oct. 18th, 1954 : Texas Instruments announces the Regency TR-1 Transistor radio, although other companies had been showing prototypes of Transistor Radios as early as 1952. The Regency TR-1 Transistor radio was the first commercialy sold radio ( went on sale in November of that year ) to sell in significant numbers selling for $49.95.

Full Size Original Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Regency_transistor_radio.jpg

UK 1963 England British Prime Minister
18th October, 1963 : Lord Home a Scottish Conservative Aristocrat with the Title of a " Lord " becomes the new British prime minister.

Space 1967 Space Venus 4
Oct. 18th, 1967 : An unmanned soviet capsule Venus 4 achieved a soft landing on the planet Venus and radioed back that the planet is to hot for human life with temperatures at 800 degrees Fahrenheit.

UK 1968 England John Lennon
Oct. 18th, 1968: John Lennon and his girlfriend, Yoko Ono, are arrested in London for possession of marijuana

Mexico 1968 Mexico Bob Beamon
Oct. 18th, 1968 : Bob Beamon breaks the world long jump record in Mexico during the 1968 Olympics beating the previous record by nearly 2ft, many believed part of the reason for this astounding jump was the high altitude of the Olympics that year.

U.S. 1976 U.S.A. Mafia Boss of Bosses Dies
18th October, 1976 : The funeral of Carlo Gambino, the 'boss of the bosses' in the Mafia, takes place in New York. It is often believed that the character of Don Vito Corleone played by Marlon Brando in Mario Puzo's 'The Godfather' was based on Carlo Gambino.

Germany 1989 East Germany Leader Steps Down
Oct. 18th, 1989 : The Communist leader of East Germany, Erich Honecker, is forced to step down after a series of health problems.

U.S. 2006 U.S.A. Dow Jones Breaks 12,000 barrier
17th October, 2006 : The Dow Jones industrial average passed 12,000 for the first time before closing at 11,992.68

Pakistan 2007 Pakistan Benazir Bhutto
Oct. 18th, 2007 : The former prime minister of Pakistan ( Benazir Bhutto ) returns after 8 years of self imposed exile and within a few hours of her arrival suicide bombers struck her motor cavalcade killing 100 of her supporters, but she escaped unharmed.
Pakistan has had an increasing number of terrorist bomb attacks in 2007 and many fear for the future in a country where religious extremist violence is increasing.

Full Size Original Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Benazir_Bhutto-crop.jpg

This Day In History For Tomorrow October 19th Day After October 20th Or You Can Use the link to this Month at the top of the page to find the day or month you are looking for

U.S. 2009 U.S.A. Balloon Boy Parents To Be Charged
17th October, 2009 : Following the appearance of Falcon Heene on TV where he was asked why he had stayed hidden, said "we did this for a show", it now appears the reports to local police that he was carried away by a helium balloon were part of an elaborate hoax and publicity stunt. ( On December 23rd, 2009, the boys parents were found guilty of attempting to influence a public servant. Richard Heene was sentenced to 90 days jail and Mayumi Heene to 20 days weekend jail, the former was also ordered to pay $36,000 in restitution.

Chile 2011 Chile Student Protesters and Police Clash in Santiago
Oct. 18th, 2011 : Students protesting over education reform clashed with police in Chile's capital, Santiago. Protesters had set up barricades and were throwing gasoline bombs at police as they blocked rush hour traffic. Police arrested over sixty people.

United States 2011 United States 400,000 illegal immigrants deported
18th October, 2011 : U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement release new figures showing that about 400,000 illegal immigrants were deported from the United States in the 2011 fiscal year, the most deportations ever in 1 year in United States history.

Saudi Arabia 2012 Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia Has First Female Director

Oct. 18th, 2012 : Haifa al Mansour has become Saudi Arabia's first female film director after making a film about a Saudi girl who wants a bicycle. Haifa al Mansour has faced much pressure to quit and criticism of her career choice in the country that only shows a few films publicly and has tight restrictions on women's freedoms.

United States 2013 United States US Nun in Training Kills Baby

18th October, 2013 : A twenty-six year old nun in training in Washington D.C. was charged with killing her newborn baby. The woman smothered her newborn, killing the baby, because she feared that the other nuns would hear his crying.

Born This day in History 18th October

Celebrating Birthday's TodayPierre Elliott TrudeauBorn: 18th October 1919,
Montreal, Quebec, Canada Died: September 28th, 2000, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Known For : Prime Minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Trudeau was known as a charismatic figure who gained notoriety for dating celebrities and was even blacklisted and refused entry at one stage by Canada's closest neighbor the United States because of a visit to a conference in Moscow ( It should be remembered that this was during the cold war when Russia and the United States were at odds and any one who could be thought of as fraternizing with enemy was under suspicion ). The blacklist was removed at a later date. He is also credited with establishing the Charter of Rights and Freedoms within Canada's constitution. Martina Navratilova Born: 18th October 1956 Prague, Czechoslovakia Known For : Former World No. 1 ( Total of 331 weeks ) women's tennis player who many consider one of the greatest singles, doubles and mixed doubles players of modern times. During her years on the pro tennis circuit she won 18 Grand Slam singles titles including 9 women's singles title at Wimbledon.